


Cloud Grooming

by JustaBluebird



Category: Katekyou Hitman Reborn!
Genre: Cloud courting, Gen, Manipulation, guardian grooming, kid Skull, mentioned cloud self destructive tendencies, world building
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:35:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25879030
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustaBluebird/pseuds/JustaBluebird
Summary: Skull is the youngest Arcobaleno by far. But in the mafia, where a sky courting an adult cloud usually ends in disaster, raising a cloud to fit in with an older guardian set is not unheard of.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 193





	Cloud Grooming

**Author's Note:**

> The idea behind this is that Skull isn't so social and happy because he is an inverted cloud, but because he is just a baby cloud that hasn't fully grown into his instincts yet. And then I had to figure out why the other Arcobaleno would be ok with having a baby cloud as a team mate.

The day the Arcobaleno first met there was only two people the majority of them didn't already know. Luce, the mysterious sky who was hosting the meeting, and Skull, the five year old cloud she was plying with chocolate chip cookies. The tiny cloud couldn't decide if he should be joyously happy from the sweets and attention from Luce, waving his arms and smiling, or if he should be seriously glaring at the intruders to the room, crumbs falling from his pouty face. 

He looked a bit ridiculous in a baby sized purple leather bike suit, heavy pasty white and purple make up, and many facial piercings. It was possible someone dressed him this way, but given he was a cloud, it was more likely he picked it out himself as an early attempt at independence. He probably thought it looked _really_ cool. 

The other adult soon-to-be Arcobaleno arrived and silently sat down in their seats one by one, an unspoken agreement that business would not start till everyone had arrived. They examined each other, eyes occasionally glancing at the cloud before dismissing him.

Cloud grooming, the process of raising a young cloud in an already established older harmony to encourage bonding with them, wasn’t unheard of in the mafia. It required a powerful sky with lots of territory to even be considered as an option, but the benefits often outweighed the problems. 

Courting adult clouds came with many issues. First, adult clouds are incredibly violent. A cloud shattering the bones of an interested sky, permanently injuring them, or even killing them, was a common story. Second, clouds are sensitive to being bound in any way, and a guardian bond counts as one. A rushed or unfit bond can cause a cloud to rage until they die of flame burnout or, in extreme cases, commit suicide in order to escape. Finally, as there are few clouds born, and even less that make it to adulthood, skies have a bad habit of making clear claims on clouds to try and scare off other skies, which ends up rubbing the clouds fur the wrong way. Multiple skies will sometimes end up fighting over a single cloud as well, which causes the skies to try and rush their bonds, leading back to issue two.

Instead, a powerful sky, or famiglia hosting said sky, could decide to raise a cloud to be specifically their guardian. A young cloud is checked for flame potential, to make sure they will be strong but not overwhelming for the sky, and for compatibility with the skies flames. If it seems like a good match, the cloud gets brought into the harmony as a guardian in all but bond. The other, older, guardians help the sky raise the cloud, causing the child to adapt to life with the harmony. The idea behind grooming is that if the cloud is already used to the harmony, it wont nearly be as hard to court them into a full bond once they are old enough to make one. 

As the cloud gets older, they are encouraged to wander around and start claiming territory, just like their instincts tell them too. Of course, the sky needs to have more land in their control than a young cloud would want to patrol, giving them the illusion of freedom. If there is enough land, the cloud will end up building a territory inside what the sky already has control over, creating little chance of the cloudling encountering any rival famiglias or skies. If all goes well, the cloud will slot into place with the rest of the harmony with little rebellion. 

Trying to groom a baby cloud to become a guardian is risky though. As they get older, and their more cloudy aspects begin to shine through, there is every chance they might reject the harmony. This rejection could be either running away or self destructing. As grooming a cloud is technically a type of incredibly long courting, the minor and tentative bonds the guardians and sky have made with the cloud over the years can be ripped out by the rejection. The broken partial bonds are a maiming wound to the rest of the harmony's flames that will never fully heal. The only way to mitigate this risk is to make sure the harmony is stronger than, respected by, and caring but not too clingy to the cloud. A delicate balance not many sky and guardian sets can fully manage. 

Not a problem for the world’s greatest though. 

The soon-to-be Arcobaleno settled in and after Luce welcomed the group, started interdicting themselves.

"Reborn. Sun. World's greatest hitmen."

"You may call me Viper. Mist. World’s greatest information broker." 

"... World's greatest..."

"... World's greatest..."

Eventually they got around the table and only the cloud remained. Skull perked up, waving his hand that still gripped a cookie.

"I'm Skull!" He cheered. "I'm the world's greatest…" he paused, scrunching up his nose and frowning as he stared down at the table. Suddenly he looked up and smiled. "The world's greatest stuntman!"

"Lacky." Reborn stated. 

The others murdered in agreement with the sun.

Fon smiled. "What sort of stunts can you do Skull?"

Skull looked at the storm very seriously. "I can ride a motorcycle." 

"We're not actually bringing a child on missions are we?" Complained Lal, the rain.

"Tsk." Reborn said. "Trust a COMSUBIN to not understand the mafia." 

"It's a reasonable thing to ask!" Lal retorted.

"Well," Fon said. "You are stepping a bit out of line." He pointedly glanced at the cloud who's eyes had narrowed and the sky who's smile had gotten a bit stiffer.

Verde was busy writing in a notebook he had pulled out at some point, but he was still paying enough attention to add "Unusual. Rains are typically individuals who end fights in a group, not instigate them."

Lal clicked her teeth and let the subject drop. 

\-------------------

After the Arcobaleno curse was broken, Tsuna noticed that something was strange about Skull. With Verde's quick growth serum the others were currently steadily aging and appeared about twelve, but Skull got to about Lambo's age and got stuck there. Why wasn't he getting older too?

"Thinking about something Dame-Tsuna?"

"R-reborn!" Tsuna jumped. He hasn't noticed the impeccably dressed pre-teen sneak up beside him. "I was just thinking about Skull."

"Ho?" The hitman asked, his gaze turning to where the cloud was talking to Lambo about the best types of candy. "What about him?"

"Well it's just…"

"Hmm?" Reborn cocked his gun.

"Uh… he gets along well with Lambo?" 

The two kids started yelling at each other in the background.

"Dame-Tsuna already has a cloud." Reborn says, expressionless. 

Tsuna’s intuition pinged him that this conversation was getting dangerous. "I don't mean it like that!"

"Ho? A good mafia boss should be clear in what they mean."

"I mean," Tsuna collected himself. "Why isn't he getting any older?" 

"Isn't it obvious Dame-Tsuna?" Reborn replied. "He is already fully grown. The youngest Arcobaleno." 

"He is still a baby!"

"Your guardian is too. Are you saying Lambo won't be great? That he doesn't belong?”

“N-no, of course not.”

“Then there isn’t a problem.” Reborn tilted his hat. “Is there?”

“No.”

“Good.” Reborn put his gun away. “Now if you excuse me, a certain lackey is overdue for a visit to Verde.” Reborn sauntered over to Skull and lifted him right off the ground and over his shoulder before walking away. The cloud slumped over his suns’ shoulders like a sack of potatoes, pouting.

Tsuna blinked, trying to fully grasp the conversation he just had, before he suddenly realized: 

“Ehhh! If he is already fully grown, what is Verde going to do to him?!”


End file.
